SOUTHERN AFRICA. 321 



No sooner was the intellio-ence of this disastrous defeat 

 carried to the ears of the humbled monarchy than he set fire 

 to his thatched capital and fled. Advancing* to the sack of 

 Unkunking-lovej the Boors found its deserted Avig'wanis 

 enveloped in smoke and flame, — bullion to a considerable 

 amount beino' nevertheless rescued, too-ether with four thou- 

 sand six hundred head of cattle, and much valuable booty 

 in o'uns and horses. The bleachino- bones of the unfortunate 

 men who perished in the treacherous massacre with Ketief, 

 were recog'nised by their more successful countrymen, who 

 enjoyed the melancholy satisfaction of aflbrding- them the 

 rite of sepulture ; and the treaty was discovered, to which 

 Ding-aan had duly scratched his royal mark, ceding* to the 

 emigrants in perpetuity the whole of the territory styled 

 Natal, lying* betwixt the rivers Tug^la and Umzimvooboo. 



After the expiration of some days, intimation being- ob- 

 tained of Ding-aan's place of concealment, a strong* patrol 

 consisting* of two hundred and eighty men went out to 

 beleag*uer him, and if possible put the finishing* stroke to 

 the work of demolition. Becoming* entang*led in broken 

 and difficult gTound, however, they were suddenly sur- 

 rounded by several bands of warriors to the number of 

 three or four thousand — the Jast remnant of the Zooloo 

 forces — who had up to that moment remained in close am- 

 buscade ; and after many hard blows had been dealt on both 

 sides, the farmers, being* unable to lure the enemy into the 

 open g*round, were compelled to retire with the loss of four 

 of their own number, and more than thirty of their Port 

 Natal aUies, of whom the leader was one. These casualties 

 occurred chiefly during* the passage of a river, across a 

 difficult ford, in which their party were wading* to the g*irths 

 of their jaded horses, when the Zooloos pressing* hotly upon 

 their heels, mixed with the Natal natives, and rendered it so 

 impossible to distinguish foes from friends, that many of the 



